After days of selling pressure, buying interest returned at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index remained firmly in positive territory throughout the session, reflecting improved investor sentiment.
Trading began on a cautious note, with the index briefly hitting the intraday low of 177,931.32 in the early hours.
However, aggressive buying emerged soon after, helping the market recover sharply. The benchmark steadily climbed through the morning session, crossing 178,500 points and maintaining its upward momentum towards midday.
The rally accelerated during the afternoon session, with the index surging to an intraday high of 179,919.27 points.
At close, the KSE-100 Index settled at 179,571.26, a gain of 1,878.34 points or 1.06%.
On Tuesday, the PSX remained under pressure as investors stayed cautious amid uncertainty surrounding regional geopolitical developments, while profit-taking and other index-heavy sectors extended losses for a second consecutive session.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed in the red, shedding 778.95 points, or 0.44%, to settle at 177,692.92 points.
Internationally, Asian stocks were wobbly on Wednesday, a day after a global selloff in technology and semiconductor shares, with analysts cautioning about the risk of renewed volatility.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.02%. South Korean shares, which plunged 10% on Tuesday in their sharpest one-day drop since March, jumped 2.2%, while Japan’s Nikkei was swinging between gains and losses, last down 0.8%.
Risk-off sentiment swept Wall Street overnight, tracking moves in Europe and Asia. U.S. stocks fell on concerns about rising debt-funded AI spending and speculation that the Federal Reserve could adopt a more hawkish stance, while Treasury yields declined as investors sought the safety of government debt.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.09%, the S&P 500 fell 1.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.2%. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 1.41 basis points to 4.493%.
Oil prices extended this week’s losses, trading near four-month lows hit in the previous session, on signs that more oil tankers stranded in the Gulf since the start of the Iran war are set to move out of the Strait of Hormuz.
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